Is there anything good at Vintage Vinyl?
Um, I got like an early collection of Fleetwood Mac stuff, like the Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac stuff. I’m just going through the used stuff.
Tell me the truth, does the very regular Bruce Springsteen comparison bother you?
Yeah. I mean, it doesn’t bother me, there’s way worse people to be compared to. It doesn’t bother me that we get compared to Springsteen, it bothers me that nobody can think of anything better to say.
It obviously doesn’t bother him that much; you’re playing with him in London.
Yeah, he’s a fan. His son found out about us, I guess, and I saw him once at an Against Me! show because he brought his kid to the show and he’s really open to what his kid listens to, and I guess he likes it. Kind of weird, not gonna lie.
It is weird when that happens. I was at a Neurosis and Mastodon show in Brooklyn sitting upstairs and all of a sudden Max Weinberg and his kid are sitting behind me.
(laughs)
So in all your other interviews today, did they have anything interesting to say?
‘Do you like Springsteen?’ Hmm, no. ‘What about Bon Jovi?’
Oh that’s terrible. New Jersey has such a bad rep for that. But wait, so when people interview you and ask you if you like Bruce Springsteen you say ‘No?’
I don’t say no, that’s not true. I say ‘That’s really more Brian’s cup of tea than anyone else in the band; I really like the Cure.’ That’s kind of how it ends up going.
I guess it’s his vocal.
It’s a lot of things. To Brian, Bruce really is an iconic figure. I can’t say for sure, but I’m almost positive young Brian Fallon practiced some Springsteen moves in the mirror when he was a child. He really has an attachment for his songwriting style and if you listen to one person enough, anything you do, there’s going to be a sense of that in there. But even he’s sick of the question. He says it’s like if you ask a person covered in tattoos, ‘So, you like tattoos?’ ‘No shit.’ (laughs) They bring all that up and it’s not one question about the Replacements.
